6 Contemporary Views of Human – Carnivore Conflicts on Wild Rangelands Alexandra Zimmermann 1,2 , Nick Baker 3 , Chloe Inskip 1 , John D.C. Linnell 4 , Silvio Marchini 2 , John Odden 4 , Gregory Rasmussen 2 and Adrian Treves 5 1 North of England Zoological Society, Chester Zoo, UK 2 Wildlife Conservation Research Unit, University of Oxford, UK 3 University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia 4 Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, Norway 5 Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison, WI, USA Introduction Conflicts between wildlife and people pose a challenge of increasing concern to conservation scientists (Woodroffe et al. 2005). Human–wildlife conflict arises when the behaviour of wild animal species poses a direct and recurring threat to the livelihood or safety of a community and, in response, persecution of the species ensues. Persecution – the persistent killing, chasing or other harassment of a species – in the context of human–wildlife conflict differs from hunting in that the hunter seeks a product (meat, trophy, sport), while in conflict the aim is to menace or eradicate the animal or species. Retaliation Wild Rangelands: Conserving Wildlife While Maintaining Livestock in Semi-Arid Ecosystems, 1st edition. Edited by J.T. du Toit, R. Kock, and J.C. Deutsch.  2010 Blackwell Publishing